The Definition of Perfection
by time-failed-us
Summary: In which Gwen asks the real questions and Jason struggles with deciding what "perfection" really means to him. And it all ends with an embarrassed Reyna. Jeyna. Jason-centric with a large slice of Reyna and some Roman demigoodness on the side.
1. The Questioning

**Hiii guys! It's been way way way too long that I haven't posted, so long that all my previous fic documents have all been automatically deleted. Hope to the gods there's nothing I need trapped in the Tartarus of deleted documents :P**

 **Anyway, here's my new story. The good stuff starts next chapter. I won't be quick with updates, but I assure you that it is worth the wait! Originally, I wanted to put publishing on hold until I finished it in its entirety since I have it all planned out, but PJOforlifeFairyTailFan, one of the coolest and kindest people I've met on FF, has been so great that I couldn't help but give her and my readers (granted, I don't have many but still) a bit of what I've been working on.**

 **I do not own PJO, but if I did, I'd write a Roman prequel series to HoO, exactly like PJO but Roman. You get me.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"I dare you to tell everyone that you and Reyna are dating."

"What?! Kota, _no_!"

"Well… They _do_ deserve to know."

"I swear, one day, I will murder you in your sleep. Both of you."

"Guys… No killing, please, or I'll have no friends left and I'll have to third wheel all the time. Actually, I kind of already am the established third wheel for all you guys."

What is this madness and chaos, you ask? Oh, just five Roman demigod best friends playing a game of Truth or Dare… Roman style.

Granted, there's a lot less violence than one might assume by hearing the phrase "Roman style", so hey, that's a plus!

Here's how it works. The players—Jason, Reyna, Gwen, Dakota and Bobby—sit in a circle with a bottle and a coin in the middle (and all weapons carefully stowed away in a vault that only Bobby can open because he was voted the least likely to kill his friends).

The players each go in turns to be the askers, which means that they get to dare someone to do something or ask a question.

They spin the bottle to determine who gets asked.

Then, they flip the coin to determine if it is a truth or a dare—this way, cowards cannot run from dares and the shameless cannot run from telling the truth. Originally, this game was played with a knife that was thrown into the wall, and whichever side (hilt or tip) hit the wall determined if it was a truth or a dare. However, they quickly realised that this method was easily rigged—with a bunch of professionally trained demigods, knives were easy to "hack", especially for Reyna.

So, no weapons it was.

Oh, and one more thing—dares are only asked of the person the bottle points to, but truths can be for all people in the game.

"Look," Dakota said, trying to ignore Reyna's death glare while he persuaded Jason that it was a good idea, "everyone pretty much knows, anyway, so all you'd be doing would be to confirm that."

Jason sighed as he laid a soothing hand on his girlfriend and fellow praetor's shoulder to calm her down. Thankfully, it worked, and Reyna's muscles immediately let loose of the tension.

"Kota, I've told you this so many times already. We've decided not to tell the camp yet because we don't want them to think that their praetors are focusing on dating and not on working in the best interest of the camp."

Reyna shot Jason a grateful look. "It's not the right time yet. And even though some people know that we would always put the legion before ourselves, we don't want even a seed of doubt to be in people's minds."

Dakota frowned. "But Gwen agrees that you should tell, right?"

Gwen sighed, fiddling with her blonde ponytail. "Well, I do think it's been long enough since the Giant War… I'm one hundred percent sure that the whole legion and New Rome would be behind their beloved praetors and would support you. You led them through two wars and two victories—if they don't want you to be happy, then they don't deserve to be a part of Rome. I mean, there's so much gossip around about how cute you guys could be, but I've also heard some things that are… not so good."

Reyna's fingers froze in the middle of retying her signature black braid. "What do you mean by ' _not so good'_?"

"Well…" Gwen trailed off, not wanting to tell Reyna. "Jason's really attractive. Lots—and I mean _lots_ —of girls would jump at the chance to, well, _jump on him_."

The daughter of Bellona raised her brows in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything.

"Reyna, you're super gorgeous too, you know. It's not all about Jason."

The blond-haired son of Zeus' eyes flashed with something dangerous and dark. "They can answer to me, then. Expect casualties."

They all laughed. "You know, it would be much easier to just tell everyone. Then, no problems, because I pity the guy or girl who's stupid enough to try to get between you two."

Jason and Reyna shared a look, smirking at each other. "Kota, why don't you just give me another dare?" he suggested, changing the topic.

The curly-haired son of Bacchus pondered, sipping Kool-Aid. Suddenly, a wicked grin appeared on his lips. "Fine. I dare you to embarrass Reyna in front of the whole camp."

"Done!" Jason grinned, slapping his friend on the back.

"No way in Tartarus—" Reyna started to complain, but it was too late. Gwen was already spinning the bottle to see who it would land on for her turn.

It landed on Jason.

The proceeding coin flip was a tail, meaning that she could ask everyone any question. Technically, she could also choose to ask Jason a personal question, but since he was dating Reyna, there was no interesting or embarrassing information about him that she couldn't get out of her best female friend.

Gwen was going through a kind of deep phase right now. She only asked meaningful questions that would make people really think about their lives instead of funny ones that would be stupid and not worthwhile in knowing the answers to. So, searching through her vast repertoire of questions that would expose one's psyche, she asked:

"What is your definition of perfection?"

Bobby was the first to answer. "The Lord of the Rings books and movies. Though the books are obviously way better, the movies were actually not bad for movie interpretations of classic novels. Harry Potter is perfect, too. Almost on the same level as LotR, but not quite as classic. Emma Watson, though. She is perfect. Daniel Radcliffe is perfect. Voldemort's nonexistent nose is perfect."

Jason chuckled fondly, ruffling his friend's dark hair. "You're such a nerd, Bobby. A nerd who rides a war elephant."

"You know what? Scratch all that, _Hannibal_ is perfect."

The five all burst into laughter for a moment until Bobby sobered up. "I'm being serious, guys," he said, brown doe eyes wide and dark brown hair flopping into his face as it always did. "Don't insult my real best friend."

"So, we're not real, then?" Gwen challenged.

"Of course you're real," Bobby quickly amended, avoiding the fearsome blonde's green gaze. "But I don't see any of you guys charging into war with me or letting me piggyback on you brandishing a sword or picking up said sword with your nose when it gets knocked out of my hands."

None of them could argue with the piggybacking part.

"Plus, elephants don't pull down your pants, _Dakota_."

Next was Dakota's turn. "It's easy for me," he said proudly. "Bet you can't guess what it is."

"Kool-Aid?"

"Girls?"

"Girls in lingerie?"

"Japanese food?"

Dakota looked at all of them weirdly, especially Gwen and Reyna. "I'm not that girl-obsessed, you know," he told them. "I may have a Victoria's Secret subscription, but I only look at the _designs_ , not the people."

"Yeah, right."

Dakota ignored Jason's taunt. "Bobby, I love Kool-Aid, but it's not perfect. There's always room for improvement, and even my favourite drink of all time has its problems."

"For example, it might lead to diabetes," Reyna put in with a knowing smile, eyes glowing with playfulness.

"Shut up and don't judge me," Dakota shot back. "And finally, Jase was the closest."

"You love sushi."

"That I do." The two long-time friends grinned childishly at each other. "But wrong again. The closest thing to perfection is…

"Roasted salmon in teriyaki sauce laid on a bed of bacon-wrapped grilled asparagus paired with fluffy buttery mashed potatoes and ratatouille with a cup of warm pumpkin spiced latte not from Starbucks, but get this—made by _Gwen_. And enjoyed in bed, wrapped in a warm blankie."

Gwen rolled her eyes but smiled. "I _do_ make a mean PSL."

"That," Reyna said with an eyebrow raise, "sounds much more complicated than it actually is."

"I bet I can make it," Jason announced. "Maybe for your birthday, if you're lucky."

His girlfriend only nudged him playfully. "No thanks, Sparky. Being the Airhead that you are, you'll probably mess it up and burn down the Mess Hall. Also, I want to eat something _good_ and _unburnt by lightning_ on my birthday."

Jason stuck his tongue out at her, though she was probably right.

"A kind gesture is all that matters to me."

Her other four friends stared at Gwen as if she was speaking Swahili.

"What do you mean?"

Bobby started humming the song by Justin Bieber, which earned him a jab to the ribs from Dakota.

All eyes were on Gwen, searching for an explanation. Jason and Reyna's gazes were laced with confusion and interest, while the other two boys were frowning.

Gwen sighed. Her deep phase was really getting to her. By no means were her friends petty, or materialistic—they were Romans, and pretty clothes would not faze them at all—but sometimes they weren't really on her wavelength.

"A kind gesture means the world to me," she began. "It shows me that someone is thinking of me at any random moment in time, and wanted to do something nice for me because they care. And that really touches my heart."

"Here's the legacy of Venus part kicking in," Bobby mumbled to Dakota.

The blonde smiled. "For example, when Adaline bought me a bunch of toffee chocolates when she had her time off in New Rome after I'd mentioned how much I loved them once. Or when Kota brought me breakfast in bed when I got a cold."

"Hey!" Dakota exclaimed, jumping up indignantly. "That was supposed to be _our_ secret!"

Jason and Reyna wore matching smirks. "Kota, you don't have to pretend," Reyna said, her voice dripping with honey. "We know you have a crush on Gwen."

"Yeah man, you _looooooove_ Gwen," Jason added.

Dakota's face flushed as red as his cherry Kool-Aid. He didn't even bother to splutter and complain about how wrong they were, because Gwen probably knew about it even before he finally realised what the fluttery feeling in his stomach meant.

"Right here, guys, right here," Gwen reminded. "But it's just so nice when people think about you or do things for you when you least expect it. Don't you agree?"

Murmurs spread around the circle as they couldn't argue with Gwen's reasoning.

"So, yeah, that's my definition of perfection—that moment of surprise followed by gratitude and then warmth when you receive that kind gesture."

Reyna honestly didn't have much of an idea of what perfection was. She didn't really believe in it. Circe had always stressed that perfection was what her girls should strive for. However, Reyna staunchly believed that total perfection was unattainable, and was a useless goal that only served to bring despair.

Yes, people could have their own perspectives and takes on what, to them, seemed to be flawless and perfect and impossibly so. But Reyna had her own opinion. Perfection was only a phenomenon, one of the human mind comparing things endlessly and finally deciding that one thing stood out as the best. Perhaps that thing was the best thing that that person had encountered, or experienced. However, by no means was that thing "perfect"—being the best did not mean _perfection_. There had to be something better, or at least, there would be, in the future. Ideals of perfection change a lot during one's lifetime. That meant that perfection was something that was unfathomable, something that was impossible to tie down or to associate with only one object, be it a memory or a feeling.

But, nonetheless, she had to answer Gwen's question. Reyna sorted through her various memories, picking out some of the most deeply buried and treasured ones.

Was it the day that she had reached Camp Jupiter after running for what seemed like eternity, the day that she had succeeded in her first mission, the day that she had proved herself worthy of being a demigod, the day that she had first met Jason?

Or was it the day that she had finally escaped from the pirates with Hylla, the day that she was finally free from the chains of C.C.'s Island, the day that she had taken charge of her own life?

Or perhaps it was the day that Jason had been pronounced praetor alongside her, just after their successful storming of Mount Othrys, where she had looked upon the dead and wounded bodies of her comrades that littered the unforgiving black stone, and had let loose one tear, before catching Jason's—her best friend's—hand in hers and pulling him close, thrusting their glowing swords into the air and looking down at their past while also looking towards their future, not knowing anything but that they would always be side by side?

(That last part wasn't so true, but at least they had found their way back to each other as she knew they always would.)

Or could it be the day that Jason had come back to Camp Jupiter for the second time, running to her with scratches on his face and blood on his hands and a limp in his step and, in that deep whisper of his, had said _"I remember now. I remember you now."_ and had smiled at Reyna like she had been dreaming of for a year, that she had missed for too long, the one that shone as radiant as the sun that one could not describe as other than sincere and the one that made the small scar on his lip from such a _stupid, stupid accident_ that was _just so_ _Jason_ curl up like another dimple?

All these memories flashed through Reyna's mind, blurring into one spectrum of events in her life. There was no way she could fish out the most "perfect" one.

Then, a strong feeling tugged at her heart, and she knew.

That feeling was associated with each one of the memories that most stood out in her life.

Victory.

She was a daughter of Bellona, after all. A daughter of war. Was it not obvious that she would love the sweet sound and feeling of victory?

The calm after the storm. The peace after the war. The relief after the pain.

 _Swords in the air, wind through her hair, ichor dripping from her blade, and Jason by her side, blue eyes gleaming with something wild and exciting._

Veni, vidi, vici. Just as the great Julius Caesar had put it.

"Victory."

Whereas his four friends had made up their minds relatively quickly, the gears in Jason's head kept turning and stopping and turning and stopping.

He wasn't exactly in the best position to answer Gwen's question at that moment. He had no idea whatsoever of what his mind or heart called perfection. And Jason Grace was never speechless. There were just too many options.

"Gwen, I'm gonna have to sleep on that one," he said with a wry, apologetic smile. "I'll definitely give you an answer within the week, okay? But seriously, that is hard."

Gwen laughed, a merry sound that sounded like the twinkling of Christmas bells. "Sure, Jase. However long you need."

And thus began Jason's quest to find perfection in his heart.

* * *

 **That's it! Thank you for reading :) Please review, even if it's just a short comment, and follow/favourite me! 3**

 **time-failed-us**


	2. Sword Fights and Bone Plights

**Hi everybody. I'm so sorry for not updating A Game of Us- I've been focussing more on this story in the meantime, but rest assured that I am still the hugest Jeyna fan of all time and will not drop it!**

 **Thank you for reviewing! I'm hoping for more this chapter, and possibly more readers too :) Here's Day 1, hope you like it.**

* * *

 _ **Day 1**_

This search was so strenuous and, in fact, almost impossible to the point that Jason Grace, manly man of all manly men (not true, but he liked to think that way) started a mini diary documenting his profound, spiritual search for perfection in his life.

Today was the first day of his journey. Though he had a feeling that Reyna was not so happy about Gwen's question and thought it somewhat misogynistic or whatever that perfection existed, he himself was curious and interested in the subject. Perhaps he would even learn something about himself in the meantime, and learn what he loved most and what he needed to treasure most in the short life of a demigod living on the edge of danger (or Tartarus, in Percy and Annabeth's case).

It was a Monday morning, and just like all other teenagers, Jason was no exception to the phenomenon of Monday-hating. He felt lethargic, especially after the rare Sunday off that the demigods were given once a month, when they'd stay up late visiting Brooklyn's large assortment of clubs and shops.

Groaning, he cursed, slamming a hand down to stop the incessant beeping of his monstrous alarm clock. He knew, however, that he needed to get his lazy _podex_ up to practice his sword-fighting. After all, he was praetor—he could never let his people see him slack off or be weakened, or they would not look to him for guidance.

Changing into his favourite camp T-shirt and a pair of comfortable and practical dark jeans, he slipped IVLIVS into his pocket, silently thanking Jupiter for calling in a favour and retrieving his most prized possession from the depths of the ocean as he ran his thumb over the familiar faded design of the gold coin.

Shoving his feet into sneakers, Jason slipped a peek at the mirror—oh, gods. His hair was an absolute mess and looked more like a bird's nest than a real one did. Oh, well. He was running late already (five more minutes in bed turned into ten), and he'd only have to hope that Reyna wouldn't be at the Colosseum to laugh and mock him.

Hurling his body out of his villa, Jason set a comfortable pace and started to jog the short kilometre or so distance to the Colosseum as a warm-up. Only five minutes later, he had arrived. Waving at some other early risers (and by early, he meant really early—it was hardly 6:15!) who were making their way to the Mess Hall to grab breakfast before training, Jason casually flipped IVLIVS.

"Surprise me," he grinned at his trusty weapon. Though he was an expert swordsman, it never hurt to experiment and practice with other weapons—one never knew when they would lose their weapon and have to improvise with anything they could find on the battlefield. This time, the coin didn't fail—Jason was shocked to find a long spear gripped in his right hand. His bright expression faded to one of playful irritation. The spear was probably his worst weapon. "Thanks a lot, IVLIVS. You just want me to suffer, don't you?"

Nevertheless, he walked towards a row of dummies, steadied his posture, and started to go through some motions Reyna had taught him. It figured that one of his worst weapons was one that his girlfriend loved and was extremely good at wielding.

Pumping his fist in silent joy after he perfected a particularly complicated manoeuvre (though it had taken him almost ten tries to do it), he spied a piece of dark purple fabric half buried in the dirt floor. It was far from the centre of the arena, in a small patch of grass. Digging it up with some effort, Jason wasn't surprised at all when it fit into the hole in his own shirt perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. He smiled to himself, remembering when and how it had gotten there.

* * *

Jason groaned, rubbing his tailbone, which had taken most of the impact of his painful, graceless fall. Despite the pain, his neck burned with embarrassment as he opened an eye to meet Reyna's narrowed ones.

"Come on, Airhead. You can do better than that. Quit whining and get your _podex_ up so I can kick it again."

Reyna's sharp, no-nonsense attitude towards things she took seriously and biting, rarely-found sense of humour were just two of the many reasons they were best friends.

A jolt of pain erupted as he poked a spot in the bone. "Pluto!" he yowled, face scrunching in pain, fists clenching. Reyna's features immediately softened, her expression morphing into one of concern. She knelt down beside her fallen friend, brown eyes alert, roaming over his body to search for injuries while she poked and prodded with her fingers. Jason was sure he was fully blushing at this point under the sweep of Reyna's gaze down his body.

"Don't fidget, I'm just checking—"

"Checking me out, you mean?" he teased, smirking at her raised brow, the only sign that she had heard him at all.

"Turn over, idiot." With a slight push, she helped him flop onto his belly. "Where does it hurt? Show me."

Wordlessly, Jason pointed at his tailbone. Reyna's hand reached for the spot, and their hands touched, sending a spark through Jason's spine. They didn't flinch at the contact—it wasn't unusual, unlike other people who would jump out of their skin at any physical touches. With gentle hands, the daughter of Bellona pulled Jason's shirt up, drawing a breath through her teeth as she saw the huge, swollen bruise that was quickly turning greenish-purple.

"Gods, you'd think Gaia came to life and punched you or something," she laughed.

"Rey, you may be an Ice Queen, but it's still too soon to be joking about Mother Earth."

"More like Murderer Earth, am I right?" Jason laughed, feeling himself relax as they talked aimlessly about nothing in particular. Reyna's fingers drifted over the sore spot, pressing occasionally.

Sensing Jason's remark before it came out of his mouth, she quickly justified her actions. "I learned on the island that with huge bruises, the best thing to do is massage it. That disperses the blood so it doesn't become a lump. Just bite your teeth, okay? It will help."

Jason nodded, taking comfort in the fact that Reyna would never hurt him on purpose and was just trying to help. Her deft fingers lightly massaged it, starting from the centre and circling outwards. The action sent waves of strangely comfortable pain through his body, and soon he was feeling much better.

"Ready for another round?" he asked, voice muffled by the ground.

"You sure you can make it?" Reyna shot back. "I don't want to carry you to the infirmary because you can't stand losing to a girl."

He gratefully took her outstretched hand, pulling himself up and dusting his jeans off. "I don't mind if the girl in question is you, Queenie," Jason grinned. Picking up his discarded spear, he playfully poked Reyna in the stomach with the blunt end. "Let's play."

The two circled each other like hawks, spears extended halfway. Jason feinted a hit to Reyna's head, which she predictably ducked gracefully, then made a jab at her stomach, only to have his spear almost flung out of his hand as she parried with her spear shaft and twisted, forcing his wrist backwards. He stumbled, and Reyna took advantage of this, lunging toward him. Jason recovered just in time, pushing her spear point away just as it was about to slice his calf. They went on like this, trading blows and ducking masterfully, until finally, Reyna feinted to the left, swiped swiftly downwards and forced Jason to his knees to block her blow, then spun in an arc and pushed her spear at an angle towards Jason that would have impaled his stomach from the side. At the last moment, she twisted her wrist, changing the spear's direction so instead of the point, it was the shaft that struck Jason, knocking the breath out of him. In his moment of shock, Reyna kicked his chest, pinning him to the floor with her foot, her spear grasped in both hands, point positioned and ready to strike into Jason's heart and kill him.

"Wow. I am so done with spears," Jason breathed between pants. Reyna smirked back, salvaging her moment of victory for a few more seconds before lifting the weight of her foot off the blond and sticking her weapon into the ground to help him up yet again. This was the way their spear fights usually ended, with Jason on the floor and Reyna pulling him to his feet.

"I hope not," Reyna chuckled at the dirt streaks on Jason's face. "It's fun wiping the floor with you." Spotting a leaf in his haywire hair, she balanced on her tiptoes (he was so much taller than her now, unlike before when she looked down at him) and plucked it out, smoothing down the blond strands, showing him the offending object and throwing it away.

"Thanks," he smiled, aware of the setting sun but having eyes only for his best friend. The red light danced in her dark eyes, bringing a childish sparkle to the deep irises, and Jason felt as if he was looking through her, looking into the depths of Reyna's eyes and connecting with her. The light glowed off her bronzed skin and smooth, dark river of hair. But most of all, she looked happy and young, as if the Titan War had never happened and the girl of just almost sixteen years had never had to bear the responsibility of being a praetor, a leader.

He had always known Reyna was beautiful. Even with leaves in her hair and strands coming loose from her braid; even with grazed knees and dirty hands, she was breathtakingly stunning, and didn't Jason know it.

"For what?" she asked, her smooth, slightly husky voice bringing him back to his senses.

"For everything," he replied, his voice tender and true. Reyna rolled her eyes, turning away and breaking their gaze.

"You're so cheesy," she complained, nudging his side with an elbow. He swore there was a pinkish tint to her cheeks, but he knew that he probably mirrored her flustered expression. Sweeping his blue eyes over her face, he tried to memorise her features, memorise her smile if one day they were to be torn apart.

Throwing an arm around her shoulders, Jason sighed. His muscles hurt and though most of the pain had been washed away by his adrenaline, the bruise on his tailbone pulsed. "Let's go home."

To his surprise, Reyna's arm found its way around his waist. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

* * *

That had been a perfect moment, one that he hated himself for taking so long to remember when Juno had finally decided to return his memories. But Jason's quest for perfection had just started, and something told him that this quest would be unforgettable.

* * *

 **How did you like it? Please review if you did, or even if you didn't!**

 **time-failed-us**


	3. Café on a Rainy Day

**AN: It has come to my concern that my timelines are quite unclear, so I just want to, well, make them clear now. The story, which is in the beginning of every chapter, is in the present—after the Giant War—probably a year after it ended. In my version, Jason regains his memories a few months afterwards and breaks up with Piper, then comes back to New Rome. Throughout the chapters, I'll explain events that led to Reyna and Jason finally getting together in greater detail. The events that Jason remembers (after being stimulated by events that happened in the present) are either before the Giant War (i.e. before Jason went missing) or right after the Giant War (i.e. when Jason returned to Camp Jupiter). I hope this answers your questions!**

* * *

 _ **Day 2**_

"Hungry?" Jason asked with a cheeky grin. Reyna glared at him from across the table.

"No," she lied, hoping he hadn't heard her stomach rumble.

"Really? Because I either heard Dad say hello or it was your belly growling. Rey, it's only been one hour since lunch." This comment earned him another death glare, which only increased Jason's smirk.

The dark-haired girl pointed her pen at the blond mock threateningly. "It's _already_ been one hour since lunch, you mean. And don't blame me, you know I'm a foodie."

"I have no idea how you manage to stay in shape with that huge appetite," Jason laughed. Reyna shrugged in reply, a hint of a smile dancing on her lips.

They went back to poring silently over useless, mostly redundant paperwork, requests for renovation or legal documentation and such, occasionally groaning whenever they spied Octavian's signature on the bottom of the page. That usually meant trouble.

Jason almost wished that he wasn't praetor again as he patted the never-diminishing stack of sheets beside him. But he knew that if not, he and Reyna would never have gotten together. Becoming praetor for the second time was an arduous process that took place over no less than three months. When Jason had come back to Camp Jupiter, the Romans were still wary of his Greek-ness and it had taken a while for them to fully warm up to him and trust him again. Frank had been a good praetor for the half year that he had served, but was convinced that Jason was still meant to have the job. There had been a Senate meeting, at which a lot of Latin profanity had been hurled at Jason, but at the end of which Frank had managed to persuade the Romans that it was not Jason's fault for his memory loss, it was Juno's, and the son of Jupiter himself was unchanged in spirit. Reyna herself had reluctantly supported her co-praetor, and with a slim majority vote, Jason was given back his title. Looking at the girl opposite him, he could not have felt luckier.

It wasn't long after, however, when Reyna's stomach complained again.

"That's it," Jason put down his pen, bright blue eyes flicking to his girlfriend's face and breaking her concentration. "We're going out for tea." He stood and walked over to the other side of the table, tugging fondly at the girl's braid.

"Tea?" she questioned incredulously. "Really?"

"Stop questioning my choice of language and put on your shoes," Jason instructed. He stopped her just as her hand reached for her purple-and-gold denarii pouch. "I'm paying."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to dispute that," Reyna said, brushing past him.

They walked together mostly in silence, though it was a comfortable silence. Occasionally, some legionnaires would wave at them, and they would wave or nod or smile back kindly. Jason noticed that at least two guys watched Reyna as they passed, and he itched to take her hand and proclaim that she was his, to take her off the market once and for all. But he couldn't.

"Hey! Cool it, Lightning McQueen," Reyna muttered. "You're charging the air."

"That's because whenever we're together, sparks fly. It's like electricity."

Reyna couldn't help but grin at her idiotic but lovable boyfriend. "That's probably the millionth time you've used that line. Get something new."

A breeze blew past and buffeted their hair. Reyna subconsciously rubbed her arms. Just then, the sky seemed to open up and the pair were caught off guard as a light drizzle hit their skin. They were still a distance away from their favourite café, Caesar's Café.

Sharing a glance, they chuckled in unison. "Run!" Jason yelped, grabbing Reyna's arm. They broke into a leisurely jog, laughing too much at their damp selves to pay attention to the surroundings. Once the familiar, warm sight of the café came into view, they slowed down.

"Remember that time when it was raining and we were hungry?" Reyna reminisced, shivering a little from the cool wind. Jason immediately took off his hoodie, draping it over her shoulders.

" _You_ were hungry, you mean," he smiled, anticipating and dodging her punch.

* * *

 _Splash._

"Wha—" Jason touched his head, his hand coming away damp. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Reyna asked with the cutest frown he had ever seen.

"If you don't want to drown, I suggest we run." Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and increased their speed, pushing down the spark that ignited at their touch and attributing it to the sudden coolness of her fingers wrapping around his. Then, he ignored the flame that spread at the base of his stomach because it was unexplainable.

Reyna pulled him back, stopping abruptly. "Jason, is there a water-bending monster chasing us right now?"

The blond frowned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "No, but come on!"

She didn't budge. "Don't you think you're, you know, maybe overreacting just a little bit?" Reyna said, cocking an eyebrow. "It's just a drizzle—"

"It's not just a drizzle!" Jason retorted indignantly, his expression dramatic. "For all I know, Neptune is out to get me!"

"Well, he can get you over my dead body, because as much of a coward as you are, you're my Airhead and I won't let even a god hurt you. So man up and start walking."

Jason smiled at her words. Reyna may be an Ice Queen to others, but she was his Ice Queen, and the extent of her loyalty baffled even himself sometimes. Gods was he lucky to have her by his side. As his best friend, of course. Though it didn't hurt to hold her hand—it was comforting, even, and it felt oddly right.

"Are you going to stare at me or are we getting food?" Reyna urged. "I'm hungry."

"Right, and when you're hungry, you get hangry and turn into a hell-beast," Jason smirked.

"Hangry. Really?"

"It's officially a word in the Oxford dictionary now."

Caught up in their banter, the pair hardly noticed when the rain turned from a drizzle to a light shower. Jason looked down to find his shirt soaking wet. "The rain's getting heavier!"

Boy was Reyna glad she hadn't chosen to wear a white shirt that morning (much to Jason's dismay). Unfortunately, Jason had, and as the rain soaked his shirt, it became translucent and stuck to his body, showing his broad shoulders leading down to his well-built torso and narrow waist, the product of years of training. The rain had also matted down his hair, giving the 16-year-old a boyish look as he tugged on her hand.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice him taking off his jacket and raising it above their heads, wrapping his other arm around her shoulders to pull her closer. And under that jacket, the rain pelting around them and forming puddles on the ground, she felt warmer than ever before as they ran, giggling and laughing like children, living not in the past nor in the future but solely in the present.

Reyna had always known her best friend was attractive, not least physically, and dare she say it—perfect. She understood why girls fawned over him. But she was scared, scared that he would one day break her heart, and that no one could fix it when she lost the only person who could complete her. She'd rather hold him at arm's length, watching him fall for faceless girls again and again, instead of losing him forever.

Little did she know that Jason was watching her, blue eyes glowing with unbridled affection, wondering what she could possibly be thinking about that had soured her smile. He wondered if she would ever give him a chance, a chance to be in her life as more than a best friend. If she did, he thought that no matter what happened, he would never be so stupid to let her go.

He had always known Reyna was special. Even with walls around her heart and a hidden sadness in her eyes, he would be the luckiest person alive if she let him into her heart, and didn't Jason know it.

And he told himself that although he couldn't correct whatever had put that sadness in Reyna's heart, he could be the one to bring a smile to her face. And he vowed to make that his mission for the rest of their time together. And he made a silent promise to memorise everything about her, and to never forget her even after the day he died.

* * *

That had been a perfect moment because it was the moment when he finally figured out his feelings for Reyna. Actually, he had always known, deep inside, that their connection was one of a kind. Maybe they had briefly lost that connection, and maybe he had, for some time, forgotten his promise to her on that rainy day. But eventually, they found each other, because though his mind forgot, his heart never truly did.

* * *

 **Reviews are my life! Thank you to all of you who have been so sweet. If you have written any Jeyna work, be sure to leave a review to tell me about it, because I would love to read your work too! This ship shall not sink even if the books are over :) A huge shoutout to Asteria Daughter of Koios for being so kind and for having pretty awesome stories too. Check out my other work ;)**

 **time-failed-us**


	4. Suggestive Looks and Painful Right Hooks

**Hello and here is the next chapter... Special thanks to Daughter of the Earthshaker for leaving such kind reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying it and this upload is for you. Thank you for the support and everyone please review! They make me happy :)**

 **Warning: A bit of mature language. No worries.**

* * *

 _ **Day 3**_

Jason broke out of his deep thoughts with a start as Gwen appeared beside him.

"You scared me," he said with playfully narrowed eyes.

"I know," the blonde shot back with a bright grin.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else? Namely, not at the praetors' table?"

"Touché," Gwen laughed. "But then you'd be a loner."

Jason chuckled, inhaling another spoonful of delicious, creamy mashed potatoes. Forget all the bad stuff people said about cafeterias—Camp Jupiter's cafeteria food was heavenly. Or should he say… godly? The chefs were, after all, legacies. Haha. Perhaps stand-up comedian _was_ on the table for him after all.

Jason felt his friend's thoughtful green gaze on him and rolled his eyes. "Out with it, Gwen. What do you want?"

"I want… to know where you are with your search for spiritual answers to the questions and meanings of life."

Jason could practically feel the terrible urge to roll his eyes, but restrained himself. "I'm on it, Gwen. I told you that I just need some time."

"But it's been three days," Gwen whined. She cast her wide eyes on Jason pleadingly. "At least tell me what you've discovered!"

He laughed at her antics affectionately, then pushed her face away with a hand. "No puppy-dog eyes, Gwen dear. Only Dakota's stupid enough to let you get away with it."

"Fine," she huffed. She stabbed her fork into a carrot, dipping it in gravy, then munched on it while watching the other legionnaires come and go. Her eyes landed on a tall, dark, and handsome (and well-muscled) guy, one she recognised immediately as a certain Michael Kahale, fellow demigod of Venus. Gwen's mind went into "profile mode".

 _Name: Michael Kahale_

 _Godly Relation: Son of Venus_

 _Description: TD &H_

 _Relationship Status: Single_

 _Relationship History: Reyna (almost)_

Wait a minute.

"Jase, isn't that—"

"Michael Kahale. Yeah, I remember him," Jason muttered, glaring at the back of the centurion's head. "He's Centurion of the First Cohort. I know my people."

Gwen squeezed Jason's bicep in excitement, ignoring his grimace. "Nonono, don't you _dare_ change the subject, Mr Grace. Michael Kahale's the one who—"

She yelped, interrupting her speech. Frowning, she inspected her hand, which was cramping. Her fingers felt heavy and were painful to move. Even her arm felt like lead, though her blood moved faster than ever.

Jason glanced at her in horror. "Gods, I'm so sorry, Gwen… I didn't mean to, it just came out of me and I couldn't control it and I'm so so so sorry, are you okay? I'll never forgive myself, dammit, I'm sorry…"

"Shut up, I'm fine, you idiot," Gwen chastised, slowly pulling her fingers into a fist and opening them. "It was just a little shock. I didn't know you were still so hung up on that."

"How could I not be?" Jason sighed, not hungry anymore. "Sometimes, I still get nightmares about the incident."

"Aww, puppy, could you be any more adorable?" she cooed, patting her friend's hair with a fond smile.

* * *

It started when Jason came back, though he suspected that it was already happening before he did. He wasn't as oblivious as everyone thought he was, especially when someone was threatening Reyna.

Well, not threatening, but could anyone blame him if he was jealous? Yes, he had soon accepted the fact that he was jealous. Jealous of stupid Michael Kahale. Especially after Jason's memories of Reyna had finally returned, and he realised what an amazing girl he had always had right in front of him.

The girl who was currently smiling and flirting up a storm with stupid Kahale.

Who would even like a guy whose surname sounded like a disgusting green leafy vegetable?

Apparently, Reyna would, and every second that Jason saw the two of them talking or laughing or even standing in close proximity (no male was supposed to get within a six-foot radius of Reyna), he got more and more jealous.

But he promised himself not to act upon it, because even though his and Reyna's relationship was becoming stronger with each day that passed, he was not the boy in her life anymore. Kale was, and Reyna seemed to be happy with him. Jason knew he had caused her a lot of pain and heartbreak, and he didn't want to stop her from having happiness, even if it would be with someone else. Friends would be enough. It wasn't, but he would convince himself it was as long as she chose Kale over him.

So, no rash decisions and no acting upon it, despite his clearly noble intentions: to save his Ice Queen from becoming Mrs Disgusting Green Leafy Vegetable.

"Hey Superman, why the frowny face?" Reyna teased, sliding in beside him, invisible wind nymphs bringing her tray to her. Jason turned to her, surprised that he had zoned out so deeply that he hadn't realised her leaving Kale.

"Um," he croaked, blushing with embarrassment before clearing his throat and plastering his usual confident smirk onto his face. "If I'm Superman, are you my Lois Lane?"

Reyna snorted, elbowing her co-praetor fondly. (And no, her cheeks were not pink at all, it was just a trick of the light.) "Stop with the pick-up lines, Jase."

"But it's okay when Michael Kale does it?" Jason asked bitterly.

Reyna frowned at his tone. "Did you just call him Michael Kale?"

Jason gulped. "No, I said Kahale."

"No, you said Kale!" Reyna insisted. "Do you have something against him?"

"No, I don't! He's a… cool dude." Jason grimaced. So much for covering up his true feelings for the guy.

"A _cool dude_. Really. Just tell me what's wrong, Airhead. There's nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, he's smart, good-looking, tall, mysterious, good with a sword—"

"I don't hate him! Gods. And for the record, I'm a better swordsman."

"First of all, yes, obviously you're better," Reyna smirked. "But second of all, I never said you hated him. You got there very quickly on your own."

"If you're implying something, I just said that I don't hate him, okay? Now are we done with this interrogation?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow at Jason's irritated tone. "Okay… Are you sure nothing's going on? You're acting weird today."

Jason shook his head with a sigh, quickly finishing off his apple. "Rey, seriously. I'm just peachy. Sorry for snapping at you, I… just need some air." He managed a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder, feeling her suspicious gaze on his back as he left.

Damn his stupid emotions.

Just then, his heightened senses picked up the murmur coming from a table nearby.

"Damn, Mike, she's hot."

"Nice line, dude. Worked every single time. I'm gonna borrow it, if you don't mind."

"Now you can check 'praetor chick' off your list!"

"Yeah, she ate up everything you said. Girl won't see what's heading her way when you dump her in front of the entire camp at the Festival of Fortuna."

And in the middle of the ring of cheering teenage boys stood none other than a grinning Kale, who really was not Jason's favourite person right now.

His vision tunneled. His blood rushed with energy. The air thinned and rippled with static.

And suddenly, Jason was in the middle of the group, punching and judo-flipping the boys one-by-one, deflecting attacks with the ease of an angered demigod until only two remained standing: the last guy who spoke and Kale.

The whole cafeteria was silent by now, watching the scene. Jason swiped the back of his hand over his now bleeding lip, ignoring the dull throbbing of his eye. Adrenaline pumped through him, wiping away the pain and replacing it with anger.

He carefully stepped over the splayed limbs of grunting legionnaires on the floor, eyes focused on the guy beside Kale. In the corner of his eye, he saw Reyna making her way through the crowd, but he didn't care. Jason grabbed the collar of the guy's shirt and harshly pulled it towards him.

"Why don't you tell everyone here what you just said about Reyna?" Jason growled dangerously.

"He didn't say anything about her," Michael Kahale stepped up. He roughly shoved the slightly shorter blond, making Jason step backwards. "Why don't _you_ tell me why you just beat up my friends?"

"Because they were talking shit about Reyna, that's why," Jason spat back with disgust.

"What's it to you?" the other guy scoffed. "It's not like she's your girlfriend or some—"

 _Crack_. The guy groaned, clutching his jaw. Jason rubbed his bleeding knuckles. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your mouth unless you want to tell Reyna how you were going to dump her in public."

"Is this true?" Reyna's voice cut through, cold and accusing. "Michael. Is this true?"

"No, of course not," Michael Kahale said, smiling at Reyna. "Don't listen to him. He's just jealous."

Jason lunged at him, kneeing him in the gut and hooking him on the side of his face. Kahale recovered quickly, lunging back at Jason as they grappled for dominance. Jason lost his balance, giving Kahale leverage to put him in a headlock. The blond gasped, grappling at Kahale's arm, which only tightened around his neck.

"Let him go!" Reyna ordered in the background.

Hearing her voice, Jason felt another surge of energy. Crushing Kahale's foot under his, he took advantage of the momentary distraction and twisted, burying his elbow into Kahale's groin and judo-flipping him the way Annabeth had done to Percy, replacing the love with disgust.

"Watch out!"

The other guy lunged toward Jason at full throttle. As he reached him, Jason stepped aside and grabbed the guy's arm, using his own momentum to throw him into a chair, where he crashed and sunk to the ground. Just as he was about to get up, Reyna appeared, round-house kicking him in the chest to keep him down.

Out of nowhere, Kahale resurfaced, and Reyna couldn't warn Jason in time. The larger and buffer teen pushed Jason to the ground, crushing the blond with his own body weight. Jason felt nothing but pain in his every bone (though that was quite the overstatement). He suddenly felt angry again. How dare this guy insult Reyna, then attack him when clearly, Kale was the one who was wrong, not Jason? What was this guy's problem, attacking Jason out of nowhere?

(He conveniently forgot that he had been the one to approach them.)

With a surge of adrenaline, something boiled in Jason's blood, and suddenly, Kahale was thrown into a table and yelping, holding a lightly charred arm. "You shocked me, you bastard!" he growled.

Jason could only look at his hands in disbelief at the power he had unknowingly released into another human being. He felt so guilty. It was his own jealousy that brought this on anyway... Kale was a bad guy, but he didn't deserve being turned into a human kebab...

"Reyna," Kahale called suddenly, holding a cloth to his bleeding broken nose. "Believe me, I would never do such a thing. Jason Grace is just making shit up to have an excuse to pick a fight with me. Why don't you choose a side? Me? Or _that guy_?"

Reyna glared at him. "Just pick your friends up and heave your sorry asses to the infirmary," she snarled. "Because I don't give a shit what you have to say. I'd pick Jason over you any day. And if you think I'm one of those girls who will cling onto you desperately and cry over being dumped then you're wrong, _Kale_."

Michael Kahale looked around as if he couldn't believe he had just gotten totally and utterly rejected. Then, he and his gang left the cafeteria, egos and faces bruised.

"Legionnaires, you have ten minutes of lunch break left. I suggest you stop staring and start eating," Reyna said matter-of-factly, as if nothing of importance had just happened. On her cue, the legionnaires went back to their own conversations and food.

"Thanks," Jason grinned when they got back to their own table. "For trusting me."

Reyna smiled genuinely. "I should be the one thanking you. For showing me what an asshole that guy was."

"You mean that smart, good-looking, tall, mysterious guy?"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, though her smirk betrayed her true feelings.

"Oh, and did I hear you call him Kale?" Jason teased.

"Yes, you heard correctly," she replied with a laugh. "I'm done with him. By the way, nice punching. Unless girls like guys with cauliflower noses, I doubt he'll be getting any more action for a while."

They chuckled, lapsing into silence for a while in silent thought.

"Jason... watch out for your shocky hands in the future. It may not be wise to use your powers on your fellow legionnaires, no matter you problems with them."

"Yes, of course. I feel really bad. I'm sorry..." Jason trailed off, looking sheepish. To be honest, he was a little scared of his own abilities. It was disquieting, knowing the extent of his power and knowing that he could have seriously injured Kale. Reyna smiled in reply.

"Wait," Reyna broke the quiet. "Were you really jealous?"

Jason chewed a fry he had stolen from her plate slowly. What he said next could change everything. Their relationship, their dynamic… If she rejected him, they would not be as comfortable with each other as they were now. Was it worth it? Was the chance worth the leap?

"… Yes. Just a bit," he finally answered, avoiding her gaze as yet another blush threatened to creep up his neck.

"Okay," Reyna said with a small, unreadable smile. "Okay."

* * *

That was the beginning of the transition of their friendship into something more. Or perhaps it had always been teetering on the brink of becoming more. But nonetheless, when Reyna tended his wounds gently as he retold the entire story with himself as Superman and herself as Lois Lane (with some exaggeration), he did not regret a single thing. Especially when she had kissed him on the cheek. (She would then say that there was a cut there and she was kissing it better, but she had never done that before, so he counted that as a legitimate kiss.)

* * *

 **I was thinking about publishing this as a separate fic, but it's nice here. Hope you enjoyed- leave a review please! :) And follow/favourite to make me a happy puppy.**

 **time-failed-us**


	5. The Way to Reyna's Heart

**Oh god(s) guys it's been so long. I really hate myself for not being able to commit to posting regularly, because my inspiration is super sporadic. I either feel like writing a million words a day or don't. Anyway, this was already written and you people who deal with me deserve it. So here you go. Another day in Jason's quest to find the definition of perfection. Suuuuper long, you're welcome. ;)**

* * *

 ** _Day 4_**

 _The way to Reyna's heart is through her stomach._

It was a Wednesday, and on Wednesdays Jason and Reyna wore purple.

They wore the camp colour almost every day anyway, but it was tradition that they had to wear it on Wednesdays, just as much as it was tradition to do paperwork together on Wednesday afternoons in the _principia_.

Eyes not leaving the paper, Jason's hand shot out to the crystal bowl of jellybeans that sat on the table between the co-praetors, who were perched opposite each other. When his hand touched something warm and smooth that was decidedly not a jellybean, Jason's head shot up as well, ready to slay whatever monster who stole his jellybeans.

"Relax, Thor. It's just me," Reyna smirked, grabbing a large handful of jellybeans. She hadn't even looked upwards. Jason wondered if one of her demigodly powers was having invisible eyes on her forehead.

"You know Dad doesn't like it when you compare him with the Norse god of thunder," Jason chided playfully, though he was serious in that he didn't want his crazy father to kill his girlfriend. "He thinks Thor isn't worthy to be put next to himself."

Reyna rolled her eyes in response, chewing silently on a jellybean.

"So," Jason continued wzsith a smirk. "Please kindly discard that from you arsenal of nicknames for me, Skywalker."

"Skywalker?" Reyna asked incredulously. "Enlighten me. Why in Pluto's name would you compare me to Luke? Oh, wait—don't even say I'm like Darth Vader."

"Well, you have a Dark Side, but you still have good in you, so actually, that's reasonable," the blond grinned, deftly dodging a well-aimed flying jellybean. "But I was referring to the popular fan theory that Rey is Luke Skywalker's daughter."

Reyna gasped. "No way! Who's the mother, then? We haven't seen any kind of romance for Luke in the entire series, so I doubt it. He's probably going to be some kind of surrogate father for her. It's more likely that Rey's parents left her to protect her when they felt her power. And they were probably killed by Kylo Ren or someone else at some point."

Jason mulled it over in his head, then cracked a crooked smile. "I do like the idea of Rey Skywalker, though. It's like a sort of 'ship name' for us. You're the 'Rey' part, and I'm 'Skywalker' because I can fly, so…"

The dark-haired girl couldn't help but laugh at her adorably weird boyfriend. "'Ship name'? Have you been hanging around the Venus girls?"

"No!" Jason almost yelled frantically. "I would never cheat on you. But back to the point, you can't deny that you loved Rey."

"She's a strong female character who doesn't need to expose 90% of her body to look great and kick ass, so yes, I did like her," Reyna smiled. Then, she frowned, realising something. "Luke, you never told me your favourite character."

"It's Han, actually," Jason laughed. "I am not your father."

Reyna burst out in chuckles, her shoulders shaking. "That was good. But wait a minute. How are you not Luke? He's the guy who went from being a farmboy to a galactic hero who has an annoying stubbornly good streak and sees the best in people. I don't see how you are not a real life version of him, except with a sword in place of the lightsaber."

"Yeah, that kind of sounds like me," Jason admitted. "But I like Han. He's awesome and badass and is the best pilot ever. Also, he comes with the best furry wingman—how can anyone not like Chewie? Plus, he has the best gadgets like the Millennium Falcon, which is my dream ride."

"If you're Han, then who—"

"Leia."

Reyna glared at Jason for interrupting her, but couldn't help biting her lower lip. It was a sweet gesture that showed he was serious with her.

"I love you," Jason tried with a smile, knowing that Reyna wouldn't take it the wrong way—it was too early for that in their relationship.

"I know," she quoted back. Jason stood and leaned over the table, cupping her face with one hand and supporting himself with the other as he pressed a kiss to her lips. She responded immediately, tugging on his shirt as their lips molded together, humming contentedly against his mouth.

 _Donk._

The sound startled the couple as they pulled apart, only to realise that the bowl of jellybeans had been knocked over by Jason's hand and said jellybeans were now all over the table. They laughed, settling back in their seats and scooping the bowl back upright.

"I love it when you nerd out, Leia," Jason murmured, tossing a jellybean in the air and catching it in his mouth.

"It's your fault for turning me into a Star Wars geek, Han," Reyna pointed out, copying his motions with three jellybeans instead of one and catching each gracefully.

"Showoff."

* * *

Jason walked gingerly into the principia, clutching two cups and a paper bag in his hands.

"You're late," Reyna accused. Jason blinked. He had just stepped in, and he was even using his wind powers to lift his feet a little off the ground to prevent noises? How—

"I can feel your presence, Jason," came the reply, after which the blond sighed and resigned himself to walking normally to their work table, feeling waves of irritation pulse off the girl. She paused momentarily only to check the clock. "It is twenty minutes past two o'clock, which I last remember as our scheduled meeting time. We have met at two o'clock every Wednesday since we became praetors, but perhaps I should have been smarter than to think you would still remember our traditions. Name's Reyna, by the way. Ring a bell?"

Jason sighed again, deeper this time as he hesitated next to her. It had been like this ever since he had been re-elected as praetor, ever since he had returned to Camp Jupiter after finally regaining most of his memories. Reyna was constantly icy and barely spared him a glance. However, Jason was nothing if not persistent, and he vowed to not give up until he had cemented their relationship again. He wondered if she would ever actually forgive him, though he could not ask that of her. After all, he had broken her heart and left her in her time of need, breaking her trust and hopes as well—coming back would not suffice.

"I'm sorry, Rey," he said sincerely, which was all he could say at this point. "It won't happen again, I promise."

The raven-haired girl's shoulders slumped a little, then her fingers put her pen down on the table. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," she commented. "You always used to be late. At least you brought me food then."

"I did this time."

Reyna frowned, then turned towards Jason. Her sharp, obsidian eyes took in his tousled hair, sheepish smile, and offerings. Her expression softened minutely. He looked too much like a lost, confused, eager-to-please golden retriever puppy—kind of like Aurum, who had always loved Jason more than her (so she suspected). Reyna may seem cold-hearted, but she wasn't on the inside, and something about the hope held in Jason's eyes made her melt. She sighed. "Don't just stand there, we have work to do and food to eat."

Jason grinned, maneuvering to the connected kitchen and relying on his muscle memory to get the plates and utensils that they needed. Settling down at his designated seat, he pulled out a chocolate donut (his favourite) and a blueberry muffin (Reyna's favourite), putting them onto two plates. Then, he proceeded to cut each in half so that each plate held half a donut and half a muffin. Finally, after shedding his heavy coat, Jason brought out the two cups, handing the one containing a cappuccino to Reyna while keeping his mocha.

Jason had never really liked coffee, but after working with Reyna for so long, he had acquired a taste for it.

She briefly met his eyes when sipping her coffee, licking her lips contentedly. She opened her mouth to say something, then hesitated, then tried again. "You're… wearing the shirt." Her voice was soft and low, her tone confused but holding something melancholy.

Jason looked down at his purple Camp Jupiter shirt. "Yeah, I am."

Reyna seemed somewhat lost for words. "...Good."

Awkward silence filled the air. Reyna immediately got back to work, again ignoring Jason's presence, while he stared at her, thinking about ways to win her over. Sadly, not much came to mind given Reyna's tendency to hold extremely long grudges and inability to forgive and forget serious matters because of her stubborn pride. His mind was also kind of short-circuiting—the longer he gazed at her, the more he mourned the loss of one of the most important people in his life (and the more the strange tugging sensation in his heart grew, as he pieced together the enigmatic puzzle that was her, as he remembered her natural and effortless beauty).

It seemed like forever that he was desperately trying to gather his thoughts and say something, anything, to her, but in reality it had only been all of five minutes. Reyna paid no heed to his watch, the only sounds ones of pen on paper and the occasional tinging sound of her fork on the plate.

Giving up on trying to speak, Jason instead resolved to use actions to express what he could not say. The glass bowl wasn't there, in its usual place between them. Most likely, Frank had moved it during his reign as praetor. Jason refused to think about the possibility that Reyna had been the one to move the bowl—their bowl—because _no, she had not given up and there was still a chance_.

He stood up and ambled towards his room (their villas were so huge that there were always rooms to spare, and since they both spent a lot of time at each other's places, they had designated rooms for the other), he knew her too well. Reyna did not deal well with sadness and pain, especially not with losing any of the few people she had let into her life. He had watched her go through Hylla's sort-of abandonment, then her father's death, and now—he hated himself for being the one who put her through that again.

A wave—no, a brick wall—of nostalgia hit him as he walked through the door. Nothing was different from the day he had been plucked out of his bed (he vaguely had the feeling he was sleeping at Reyna's when his evil stepmother had abducted him). The only thing that surprised him was how his bed seemed slept in. He reasoned with himself. Yes, he had been sleeping here, but that was a year and a half ago—it was impossible that his bed was in the exact same state it had been in since then. Not to mention the fact that everything seemed recently cleaned and not a single speck of dust could be seen. Jason came to the conclusion (he wanted to think) that Reyna had spent a night (or many) in his room, and came in here to clean his things and wait for him to finally come back because she missed him. That much he was sure of—he knew she missed him like crazy—the only obstacle in the way of their reunion was her anger at how he had forgotten her and chosen Piper over her, tossing her away like used tissue.

(But he had come back, once he had remembered—he had figured out his feelings, figured out what was causing his eyes to deceive him to think that Piper's hair had grown long overnight and her braids had fused into a single one. And he had stopped lying to himself and lying to Piper because after all they had been through, she deserved the truth. And he had returned to where he belonged, to Camp Jupiter. To Reyna.)

On the table stood a picture of them right after the Titan war when Jason had been elected praetor after single-handedly defeated Koios the insanely huge Titan dude. He noticed that it was in a different frame, and grinned at the thought of Reyna throwing and smashing into pieces their pictures together and then promptly replacing them. Beside that was their glass bowl, empty.

It brought back too many feelings and memories at once, making his hands tremble ever so slightly as he reached for the bowl—no, as he reached for redemption.

He gently set it down (after cleaning it of any lingering dust, of course) on the table, where it always sat in between the co-praetors. Reyna didn't look up. No problem. He pulled a plastic baggie out of his pocket. He opened it, and slowly, slowly, he shook the contents of it into the glass bowl.

 _Tingting, tingting, tingtingting._

Reyna's eyes flicked upwards, and her brows rose in surprise. She would recognise that sound anywhere. It was one she had not heard in a year. The sound of Titus' Treats jellybeans, hard on the exterior but soft and chewy inside, hitting the glass, the glorious sound echoing off the walls and ringing in her ears.

Speechless, she could do no more than watch Jason pour the multi-coloured candies, scrunch the packet up and throw it away. Then, she stood up, looked into the bowl, and plucked out her favourite flavour of jellybean—the purple ones (no, not only because she loved Camp Jupiter to pieces and purple was the praetors' colour), with a blackcurrant flavour.

It crackled in her mouth as she bit into it, and no, it wasn't because she and Jason had locked gazes for just a second too long.

 _Reyna wanted to punish him. She wanted him to hurt for what he had done to her. That was the main reason why she had continuously pushed Jason away despite his many efforts to win her back—which, by the way, were not as inconspicuous as he had intended them to be. She had never experienced such heart-shattering pain before he had left, not before he had come back hand-in-hand with that daughter of Aphrodite, having not a clue who Reyna was. Most of the bad things in her life had been because of Jason. At the same time, most of the good things were also brought about by the son of Jupiter, who was currently not-so-surreptitiously staring at her with a mixture of fondness and misery swirling in his eyes. A mixture that she had once felt for him, which had torn her apart beyond any trial a demigod had to endure._

"Rey, I'm sure your coffee's lukewarm at most right now. Don't you usually like to take the sleeve off?" Jason interrupted her thoughts with his extremely unrelated comment.

"No, actually," Reyna frowned at the blond, who avoided her look. Where had he even gotten that idea? "I think it looks rather unusual and, well, weird without it on."

"Right, sorry. I must remember wrong."

Jason was acting a little weird himself, but Reyna shrugged it off because he had been quite weird the whole morning.

 _So yes, she was angry, and held an impressively long grudge. A part of her still yearned to punish him, to condemn him to a life without her, just as he had; make him believe that she was truly gone and there was no hope of her return, just as he had._

"Um, I'm probably wrong about this too, but let me have a guess. You're the one who likes to turn the cap and the sleeve so it aligns with the logo on the cup?"

"No," Reyna raised an annoyed eyebrow. Seriously, where was he going with these random, unimportant questions?

"Sorry," Jason said, though his mind seemed far away, while his eyes lingered on her coffee cup. Was there something Reyna was missing? Probably not. Anyway.

 _But Reyna knew Jason. She knew that he was stubborn and stupid and too determined for his own good. She saw the way he had clenched his jaw, gaze unwavering, when she had said nothing of his jellybean act._

"Third time's the charm. You like to check if the barista wrote your name correctly, because if not, you'll march down there and demand for them to learn your name and give you a new cup because you… hate when people associate you with weather."

Reyna had had enough. "Okay, Jason. Seriously, _why are you so hung up on this_ —never mind. I'll just tell you. I don't fiddle with sleeves, nor do I care about aligning my cup. The baristas all know my name, because when you're praetor, you're sort of known amongst the Roman community. Now can I please get on with my work?"

 _And then she knew that try as she might, he would stand his ground and fight her for her trust again, and no kind of shouting and threatening would work on Jason (as they would on lesser people) because of his annoying tendency to be brave._

Jason sighed internally and scratched the back of his neck. He could practically feel Reyna's frustration rolling off her like tumultuous waves. What did a guy need to do to get a girl to notice her coffee cup? The shirt, the food, the drinks, the jellybeans had all failed. At this rate, he was almost at the end of his sleeve of tricks. And they said guys were the oblivious ones.

"Rey—"

She slammed her pen down, glaring at him. "Jason, you have my full and undivided attention. Just say whatever you want to say and get it over with so we can get back to work. Please."

Jason briefly wondered if it was normal to find deadly, scary female warriors adorable when they got miffed. It was probably just Reyna.

"Look at your coffee cup. Like really look at it. Take off the sleeve and look at it."

"Okay! Okay, I'm looking."

Weird was an understatement when it came to sons of Jupiter and their requests.

She downed the rest of her coffee (Jason was right, it was already lukewarm at this point) and pulled off the sleeve, turning the cup around in her hands.

And then she saw it.

 _She used to find that quality of bravery attractive, but not now when it was used against her, and was—oh Pluto—successful._

 **For my unforgettable Ice Queen—I'll be here when you're ready. From your Airhead—I was stupid to let you go.**

Reyna blinked a few times, and re-read the cup a few times, but sure enough, the message was still there. It was scrawled in Jason's handwriting, which she recognised immediately.

"I miss you," Jason said, analysing Reyna's expression to no avail. "I know it'll take a while, but I just want you to know that."

"Thank you." Reyna carefully slipped the sleeve back on, meeting his eyes.

He smiled. She smiled back slowly. It gave him strength.

Jason stood, opening his arms to the girl opposite. She shook her head fondly, then stood up as well. They reached across the table, wrapping their arms around each other, finding that familiarity that was never lost, just hidden.

Until Jason lost his balance and slipped, falling onto the table, pulling Reyna down with him in a mess of tangled limbs and shocked praetors.

 _Donk._

When they recovered, laughing, the bowl of jellybeans had toppled over as a result of Jason's fall, with multi-coloured beans spilling over the table.

Reyna scooped up a handful and began chewing. "What?" she grinned. "I'm not letting a single one of these magic beans go to waste!"

Jason laughed, joining in. "Yeah, they might sprout a beanstalk, and a giant may come after us. It's probably safer to eat them than to grow them."

"Either way, we'll be fine. I can take on a giant any day."

"I know you can," Jason agreed.

* * *

"Hey," he said softly as their laughter died down and they were sprawled next to each other on the floor, eating beans that had fallen onto the ground ("Don't worry, I clean every day," Reyna had said). "What do you say we take a break from work and watch a movie here?"

Reyna briefly thought about her "punishment", then decided it had already been too long, and it was time for her to forgive.

"Depends. Did you bring popcorn?"

* * *

And that was perfect to Jason because that was the moment when their eyes met and hers still held the world in them and that fondness that would not be as precious if it weren't from her, and that was when they started to heal, as if they were meant to fall apart, just to fall back together again.

* * *

 **This one seems like it could fare well as a stand-alone, but I think it furthers the line of what I'm trying to do in this multi-chap so yay for longer chapters! Go check out my new multi-chap called "the best soy latte you ever had, and me"! Please? It's another Jeyna-centric fic (what else?) and it's a coffee shop AU because I've been dying to try my hand at one. There are more characters involved in that fic and a wider AU universe that I created, and I'm super excited to actually get to writing and sharing with you guys since I've got all the plot for that entire fic written down.**

 **Leave a review as always, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and will take a look at "the best soy latte you ever had, and me" too!**

 **I'm calling this a Christmas gift to Jeyna fans. :)**

 **time-failed-us**


	6. Wake Up

**I'm really proud of this chapter (which could also be a oneshot... guess this story is kind of a collection of oneshots) and I hope you enjoy. Still in the middle of exams and death, but I'll be back to writing in a week!**

 **Before we move on, I really need to express my sadness at the cancellation of Girl Meets World. I know it's irrelevant, but seriously, that show was both the bane of my existence and the light of my life (exaggerating, but still). It's rare for a TV show, especially one on a children's channel, to be so influential to the wider society, and so empowering and filled with deeper meaning within the acceptable clichés of children's TV. Hoping that Netflix will take GMW onto another platform where they can fully explore the extent of issues they can address, this time without constraints!**

 **On another note, House of Anubis needs a movie. Also, I do not own the song "Wake Up" by The Vamps.**

* * *

 _ **Day 5**_

 _You've been deep in a coma, but I stood right here.  
When you thought there was no one, I was still right here.  
You were scared, but I told you, "Open up your eyes."_

Jason bobbed his head up and down along to the music, fingers drumming to the beat on his girlfriend's knee as they relaxed at Caesar's Café, taking a rare, well-deserved break off from their work. An earbud was stuffed in his left ear, with the other in Reyna's right.

"Stop it," Reyna frowned, gently pushing Jason's hand away. "If you so desperately need to tap, then tap yourself. You know that one of my pet peeves is people poking me."

Jason grinned, retracting his hand accordingly. "I didn't know you liked The Vamps," he commented, gesturing at her phone, the source of the music.

"I didn't until you showed me this song," Reyna admitted, mouthing the lyrics but stopping to shoot the blond a smile. "Remember?"

* * *

 _"_ _Jason!"_

He whirled around, golden blade at the ready, blue eyes alert and searching.

Where was Reyna?

The duo usually fought side-by-side. He resisted the urge to yell out. Her voice rung in his ears but her physical form was nowhere to be found.

Monsters, all kinds of terrifying, all kinds that would undoubtedly show up in Jason's worst nightmares, flowed in a steady stream towards where the Roman legion was concentrated on the summit of Mount Othrys. They never stopped. One after the other, the monsters were slain; monster dust rained down on the brave, blood-streaked faces of the legion, so tiny in comparison.

Jason didn't need to look to know that the Roman fighting force was courageous and determined, but was no match for the Titans' monstrous army. They had been utterly stupid to confront the Titans at their centre of power, but there had been no other way. Attack the heart to break the body, the ancient adage had said. The element of surprise, the Romans' sole consolation, had long ago worn off.

A girl's scream tore in the air. Jason sliced a hellhound clean in half, stealing a glance in the direction of the sound. He watched in horror, unable to do anything as a familiar body collapsed to the ground. The girl had brown locks in a ponytail and soft blue eyes. It was Maria, the praetor. A gaping wound in her abdomen, where her stomach had been all but sliced clean open, gushed with fresh, red blood.

Jason's legs ran towards the fallen warrior of their own accord. Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of purple and gold flew past him, stopping at Maria's side. Reyna! He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw her, face and arms littered with minor bleeding cuts but still alive, still alive.

 _"_ _Jason!"_ Reyna cried out again, her voice this time laced with anguish despite being unwaveringly strong.

"Right here," he replied, willing the winds to pull him towards her. She knelt over Maria's body, whispering incantations in a magical, secretive language, some ritual she had learned from Circe. Jason pushed back all thoughts of how beautiful and graceful Reyna was, how the ferocity in her stature that would normally scare others only added to her allure and intrigued him all the more. Instead, he laid a tentative hand over hers. She avoided his eyes but let him guide her hand to Maria's eyelids.

"It was short," Jason said. He could tell that Reyna was fighting back tears, but her eyes flicked back and forth from Maria's unmoving form to the battle taking place around them, watching out for any danger. She nodded, barely noticeable.

"Rey, I'm still here."

Her eyes met his for barely a tenth of a second, but they were steely and cold. However, her voice betrayed her feelings. "Good," she whispered, her fingers tightening around his a fraction. "Okay."

Suddenly, a drop of blood landed on Maria's forehead. Jason and Reyna immediately snapped their heads upwards, being the trained fighters that they were.

"This is cute and everything, but I'm afraid I need to end you just like I ended this lovely lady," a fifty-foot-tall man boomed. None other than the Titan Krios smiled twistedly down at the pair.

Jason's blood surged with anger. Krios would regret laying a finger on Maria, who was hands-down the kindest, purest person Jason had ever known.

He took flight, and everything blurred, slowing down.

 _"_ _Jason! Behind you!"_

He was blinded by anger.

 _"_ _Jason!"_

Krios raised his glowing spear, unfazed by Jason's futile attempts to hack through his godly armour.

But just before it could pierce through Jason's torso, something pushed the boy away, deflecting the blow.

Reyna crumpled to the ground, her face twisted in a silent cry of agony, clutching desperately onto a wound just above her ribcage.

Jason saw her, out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly all he could see was red. All feelings merged into one over-arching one—pure bloodlust, madness, an insane thirst to kill. Jason went full Roman gladiator mode. He would defeat Krios, or he would himself die.

He poured his heart and soul into the battle. Dark, rolling clouds materialised above the battlefield, and thunder rumbled to the beat of the son of Jupiter's heart. When Krios swung at him, he felt no pain; when people shouted that fighting a Titan was a suicide mission, he only heard encouragement; when Reyna's lungs breathed in yet another shuddering breath, he attacked again, each time wilder and stronger than the last.

Krios was still strong. Jason, wielding his sword, tried to think and compartmentalise. He was a mere demigod, while this was a god of the ages, a Titan himself. Still, there must be a way to defeat Krios. He had to have a weakness, somehow…

And then Jason saw it. As he hovered low, circling around Krios' massive leg while the Titan looked around for his tiny blond opponent, Jason spotted slits. Slits in the Titan's armour, which seemed impenetrable when one looked at it directly, but had openings when one was looking from beneath, where the Imperial gold plates overlapped.

Surging upwards with newfound hope, Jason dodged a flurry of spearwork that Krios threw his way, zooming down in an impressive swan dive and then looping upwards, the winds at his feet. Aligning his sword at his chest pointing to the sky, Jason felt a battle cry rip out of his throat. The blade glided effortlessly between two of Krios' breastplates, slamming straight into flesh. Jason almost laughed out loud maniacally at the glorious sound of ripping skin and squelching flesh and oozing blood.

Krios released a groan that shook the earth. "I'll get you one day, you useless little brat," the Titan growled, his words coming out in gurgles as golden ichor flowed out of the fatal wound. Jason wrenched IVLIVS free, hovering out of reach of the god of light. But Krios wasn't finished yet. He grinned, his massive face lighting up with insane glee. "But for now, at least I've gotten rid of your _girlfriend_."

Krios fell, and the eerie glow faded, and Othrys crumbled. Monsters froze, ignorant with their leader gone. Demigods hacked away, killing as many monsters as possible, chasing those that dared to flee. The battle was won—Jason was faintly aware of a chant starting in his name, and Dakota and Gwen pulling him onto their shields in a procession, declaring him the new praetor in the wake of Maria's death.

But none of this registered in Jason's muddled and murky mind. How could they celebrate when at least twenty demigods lay motionless and numerous cries of pain harassed his ears? His vision a haze, Jason barely noticed himself yelling at his fellow legionnaires to let him down, pushing against the shield and falling into a heap amid the commotion of celebration.

"Reyna, Reyna, Reyna…" he mumbled under his breath, stumbling around as the adrenaline wore off and the large gash on his thigh started to throb with pain. "Where are you?"

He caught sight of a heap of purple and a halo of dark hair. "Reyna!" he gasped, turning her over so he could see her face. She was pale, so impossibly pale. Letting instinct take over, Jason ripped her cloak, hastily undoing her armour and cutting open her shirt to expose the wound, then wrapping it tightly to staunch the bleeding with the purple fabric. He could almost hear her scolding him for ruining her prized cloak in the back of his mind. "Stay with me," he whispered under his breath. "I can't lose you, not you, not you too, stay with me, please." With a shaking hand he smoothed the matted hair from her forehead and cradled her head in his lap. He checked for breathing—shallow, and pulse—barely there. Unconscious. But alive.

A legionnaire passed him, and Jason roughly pulled him down to eye level. "Tell anyone who asks that I'm taking her to base," he rasped to the wide-eyed young legionnaire.

"With all due respect, praetor, you should get yourself checked out too," the boy replied. But before he could finish, Jason had already gathered Reyna's cold body in his arms, mustering up what was left of his strength and taking flight towards camp.

* * *

After a hectic emergency operation that lasted almost twelve hours, the full time of which Jason had sat outside the tent, listening to each and every sound and word hoping for information, Reyna's condition had been stabilised enough for them to move her from the camp that the legion had set up near Othrys back to Camp Jupiter. Thanks to the expert medics that they had had at hand, Jason was a sliver less worried about Reyna. But considering that he had not showered and was frazzled out of his mind to the point that his external appearance also reflected his paranoia, a sliver less worried was not much of an improvement.

Nonetheless, after learning that Reyna's body had put her into a coma to better protect her internal organs, and that she would probably not be waking up in the next few days, Jason finally allowed himself to be dragged away by a mother-hen Gwen and her willing slave Dakota.

"Jason, it's been four days, and you haven't slept at all. Your cuts are going to get infected. Look, that one by your knee is turning brown, and you STILL HAVEN'T BANDAGED YOUR INJURIES UP PROPERLY?! Please, come with us to get you fixed up, I promise it will only take a few minutes."

He didn't even spare Gwen a glance. "There are other legionnaires who need the medical attention more than I do," Jason argued tiredly. "What if she wakes up and doesn't remember anything? What if I'm not there for her when she needs me most?"

Gwen only crossed her free arm over her left one, which was bandaged up and in a sling. Her injuries did nothing to dampen the ferocity in her glare, though. "Jason Grace, you are the praetor now, might I remind you. Your people need you, and you've waited long enough already. You're lucky I was helping the nurses out with preparing herbal medicines, or I would have come for you sooner." She ignored his weak head shake. "Dakota, get him up and follow me," she ordered, turning on her heel and rushing to find a free medic. "I don't care what he has to say. He's not in the right state of mind."

"I heard that," Jason muttered, trying in vain to push away Dakota's hands but eventually giving up and letting the son of Bacchus carry him out of the room bridal style, though his blue eyes never left Reyna's comatose form. "Reyna…"

Gwen, with a flustered, mousy-haired son of Apollo in tow, looked at the exhausted blond with sympathy. Her voice softened. "Jase, don't worry. She will be fine. The medics told me that her coma will last for a few weeks at the least. Once you get this over and done with, I'll let you go back to her bedside, okay? When she does wake up, you'll be there."

Jason nodded, though he hadn't had much of a choice anyway—it was Gwen.

"Oh, and you are taking a shower too. We don't want Reyna to wake up to a hobo, do we?"

* * *

Two weeks had passed. The hospital staff were used to Jason's overprotective tendencies, and had even moved his very own hospital bed into her room so that he could watch over her at all times, while the nurses could also check up on him without worrying about his whereabouts.

Two weeks, and he had fallen into an easy pattern—well, as easy as constant concern could get—because when Jason was worried, he liked routines. Routines were orderly and always stayed the same, and were safe when one was in an uncertain and unfamiliar place. Jason wasn't one to oppose change, unlike Reyna's obsession over keeping things as familiar as possible and going crazy over small changes in her life, but that only applied to change of the good kind, not having his best friend barely hanging on by a thread.

Besides, Reyna loved routines and stuck by hers like religion. Doing what Reyna would have done helped Jason feel a little bit closer to her, as if she was giving him comfort in his time of need. Ironic that he still looked to Reyna for reassurance when she was the one in a coma. He needed her, though. She was his rock; their fates were tied together. If his rock sunk into the depths of the sea, it would pull Jason with it.

Now that he was praetor, Jason had many new responsibilities. He was confused out of his mind by the paperwork that a son of Mercury had kindly delivered to his bedside, spending hours poring over what in Pluto the papers were about before realising that all he needed to do was skim through and decide whether to approve with a signature or not.

It was hard for him, adapting to his new life as the leader of the Twelfth Legion and New Rome, especially without his best friend, co-praetor, and partner. Not only did he not have Reyna's guidance for his praetorial duties, he also didn't have her to deal with the aftermath of the Titan War and Maria's death with. His life was missing his other half, and he felt the pain very much. With her, he already knew how important she was to him, but without her, for the first time, he felt how much he actually needed her to function properly—to eat healthier (not by much, but at least a little), to work, to train and to laugh.

Gods, he had no idea that Reyna was under such a burden of responsibility as a praetor. She always downplayed her workload, and even when she complained, she never complained about the amount nor about gaining the title of praetor—she only got irritated when Octavian or other no-good Romans constantly badgered her with negligible projects.

It only made Jason respect and look up to her even more. Under all this stress, she had stayed strong, hadn't even shown signs of crumbling or weakening.

Jason smoothed his fingers over her tangled hair, not the luscious black river it was before. Her face was paler than its usual olive colour, and she looked eerily angelic, heavenly even, especially in her white hospital gown. But she was still beautiful to his eyes. In a coma or not.

He sighed, and stood up from his vigil doing paperwork while constantly looking up at her bedside. Quickly scanning the various machines that she was connected to—he had learned much from observing the nurses at work—he determined that her vitals were stable and allowed himself to take a break to stretch out his legs. Since the end of the war, Jason had announced a camp-wide clean-up effort, as well as proclaiming a momentary halt in training, instead focussing the legionnaires on repairs and rebuilding. He hadn't trained in a long time, not that he could anyway. Ambrosia didn't seem to speed up his recovery by much. Perhaps his body was also feeling the effects of Reyna's absence, the effects of Jason's distress.

Wandering over to the stereo that he had placed near his bed as a source of entertainment and to fill the uncomfortable, overwhelming silence, Jason scrolled through his favourite songs. At that moment, his eyes again moved upwards to glance at Reyna of their own accord.

 _Wake up. Please._

His finger paused in its scrolling, hovering over one particular song title. It was Wake Up by one of Jason's guilty pleasures, The Vamps. _How fitting._

With one tap, the stereo started drumming out the bass, filling the empty room with music. Jason lowered the sound so that it wouldn't disturb other patients, lip syncing to the lyrics (he had long since committed the entirety of their newest album, also called Wake Up, to memory) while dancing around. Jason was by no means a musical person, choosing to leave that to children of Apollo, but still enjoyed relaxing through the medium.

His leg and arms and chest and everywhere still throbbed from the deep cuts Krios had given him. However, that wouldn't stop Jason Grace from goofing off once in a while. His dancing led him to Reyna, just as the song reached its chorus, and he sang them to her:

 _So wake up, your sleeping heart  
I know sometimes we'll be afraid  
But no more playing safe, my dear  
I'm here, so wake up_

Reyna groaned. The machines started beeping.

"Shut up, Rey. Once you listen to it a few more times, it'll be your new favourite song."

 _Wait, what? DID REYNA JUST MAKE A NOISE?_

Jason gripped the side of her bed, hovering over her face, thumb turning the music down so he could hear her. "Rey, are you there?"

A fluttering of eyelids revealed a pair of shocking dark irises.

"Ye—" she croaked, halting to clear her throat. "Yes."

"Oh my gods!" Jason laugh-yelled, throwing his arms around her while Reyna looked on in tired amusement. "I can't believe it! You're awake!" In his surge of excitement and happiness, he swiftly kissed her cheek, missing the minute blush that brought back a healthier tint to her face again.

"So… how long?" Hearing her hoarse voice, Jason rushed to rummage for a bottle of water, carefully supporting her head to help her drink.

"Two weeks. The doctors said it would be more than that, but it doesn't matter now because you're awake and you're back and I missed you so much you Ice Queen and by the way I'm the new praetor now and gods I can't believe you have to deal with so much work and I really _really_ need my best friend back."

Reyna smiled, wincing when she stretched the cut on her face. "Jason, you're rambling. I'm awake, so everything's okay now."

"Of course, you're the one comforting me when you're the injured one. Do you know how worried I was? Don't ever do that again, you hear?" he admonished.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Should I have let you get stabbed and killed?"

"Uh, yes," Jason shot back, busying himself with checking on her injuries. "Don't take blows like that for me again. Seeing you in pain makes me feel things I shouldn't feel, okay? If you really cared about my wellbeing, you would look after yourself so I don't have to worry all the time."

She chuckled softly at this. "Yeah, and you can keep me in a glass dome. To see but not to touch. Gods, Jason. If you had been killed or wounded, then who would have defeated Krios? You know better than any that no one else could have done it, not even me. It was written in the stars. I took that blow not only for you, but for the sake of the world and our legion."

Jason grinned sheepishly. "Right… forgot about that."

"What's that song?" Reyna suddenly asked. He could tell she was tired and should have been resting, but he decided to let them have a moment before calling the healers.

"It's Wake Up by The Vamps. I thought it was fitting for the occasion, and sure enough, you did wake up while it was playing."

"It's not my usual type, but I like it."

"Good," Jason smiled back. "I like it too. Even more so since it brought you back to me."

* * *

"Of course I remember," Jason replied, sipping his cold chocolate—it was way too hot for hot chocolate, but their traditions stuck. He kissed Reyna on the cheek, and his girlfriend smiled with a shake of her head at the déjà vu. "That's still my favourite song to this day."

* * *

That had been the moment when he had realised how much Reyna really meant to him and how important of a role she had in his life. He couldn't live without her, and that was the truth. And meddling godly stepmother or not, they would always find a way back together because without her, nothing made sense. With her, he didn't need to find a sanctuary within rigorous routines. Reyna was the only constant he needed to live.

* * *

 **Jeyna feels? I've been wanting to write a fight scene for ages, and hopefully this wasn't too bad. Reviews make my day and inspire me to write faster... need I say more? ;)**

 **Please go check out my other story "the best soy latte you ever had, and me" if you liked this one! It's Jeyna too, of course.**

 **PS are any of you interested in a PJO/House of Anubis crossover? If so, do tell, so I can see if it's worth writing one of my headcanons. :)**

 **time-failed-us**


End file.
